


You Idiot

by Avrilsky



Series: Idiot [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Some Fluff, Tumblr Prompt, Waverly taking care of Nicole, bit of angst, post Jack of Knives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 11:12:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11690445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avrilsky/pseuds/Avrilsky
Summary: Nicole stops by the Homestead after her and Wynonna's run in with the Jack of Knives.





	You Idiot

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I'm gonna finish the next chapter of From Afar soon. In the mean time, enjoy this one-shot!

Waverly watched as Wynonna tossed the burning photo of the Seven in the tin trash can by the fireplace. She held onto Wynonna a little tighter, hoping to offer some form of comfort.

After Wynonna’s run in with the Jack of Knives, Waverly noticed she was more broken than usual, more haunted and Waverly was at a loss of what to do besides letting Wynonna drink herself into a stupor.

“Well, just like that, the Seven are gone,” Waverly said without much thought, leaning her head on Wynonna’s shoulder.

“Just like that, huh?” Wynonna took a swig of whiskey, staring off into the distance, voice rough and gravelly.

“So what now?” Waverly asked as headlights shined in through the front window of the Homestead and Wynonna grabbed Peacemaker off the arm of the couch, marching towards the front door. “Wynonna!”

Worry for her sister and curiosity of who was here had Waverly following Wynonna out onto the porch, eyes drawn to the headlights of the cop car parked next to her jeep.

Hope sparked in her chest at the thought of it being Officer Haught,  _ Nicole. _ But that hope died just as quickly when she realized that Nicole would still be in the hospital after having had to be revived after her run in with Jack.

There was no way she would be released so soon, let alone driving with bruised ribs and a nasty cut to her forehead.

Wynonna held Peacemaker tightly in one hand at her side as if it was suddenly heavier than normal, and the decanter of whiskey held in the other as she stared out at the car with narrowed eyes.

“Who do you think it is?” Waverly asked, adjusting her makeshift sling on her shoulder. “What do you think they want?”

“Follow up on the kidnapping,” Wynonna shrugged, though they both know it was highly unlikely.

Nedley had been satisfied when he found out that Wynonna had taken care of Jack. He had given Wynonna a curt nod and mumbled a  _ “Good Job, Deputy Earp.” _

“Maybe it’s something about Haught.”

Wynonna’s voice softened when she said  _ ‘Haught’ _ and Waverly was sure she had imagined it.

Fear spiked in her chest at the thought of something else, something worse happening to Nicole.

She was still so confused about what she felt for the tall, redheaded officer but she wanted nothing more than for her to be safe, to be okay.

Maybe that was a lie.

Waverly was pretty sure she knew what she felt for Nicole. She liked her alot, spent more often than not thinking about her. Found herself staring at Nicole’s lips whenever they were together, found herself stumbling over her words whenever Nicole smiled at her with those gorgeous dimples on display.

She liked Nicole a whole lot, but she was too scared to do anything about it. She wanted Nicole more than anything. More than she wanted to jump out of a plane at fifteen thousand feet. More than she wanted to swim far out into the ocean, so far she can’t see the bottom anymore. More than she wanted to try geoduck.

She wanted Nicole and it scared her. Nicole scared her.

The headlights shut off and the driver side door opened. It was nearly a minute before the driver stepped out of the car.

Waverly could just make out the red hair in the dark and her heart beat a little bit faster in her chest.

_ Nicole. _

Nicole held onto her side as she walked stiffly up the snow covered walkway towards the porch, her steps measured and slow as if every step caused her pain. She was breathing heavier when she stopped at the bottom of the steps, looking up at her and Wynonna with cloudy eyes.

Now in the glow of porch light, Waverly realized that Nicole wasn’t in uniform. Instead she wore a Purgatory SD hoodie that looked to be a size too big and grey sweatpants. Her hair was down and messy.

The gauze wrapped around her hand bloodier than it had been when Waverly seen her at the hospital. The cut on her forehead a deep red with a trail of dried blood along the side of her face.

“No one at the hospital would tell me if you were okay, I came to see for myself,” Nicole said, voice strained, the pain she was in evident. Her words directed at Wynonna but her eyes never leaving Waverly.

“You’re a idiot,” Wynonna said, words harsh but her tone wasn’t. There was an affection there that Wynonna usually held just for Waverly.

Waverly figured getting kidnapped together bonds you for life. Or maybe it was because Nicole had put herself between the Revenant and Wynonna.

_ “She’s an idiot,” _ Wynonna had said when she found out Nicole was okay.  _ “She’s an idiot but, she’s brave.” _

It was possibly the best compliment Nicole would ever receive from Wynonna.

“You could have just called,” Wynonna said, shoving Peacemaker in her boot and leaning against the railing of the porch.

Nicole’s brown eyes took on a faraway look as if she was suddenly somewhere else and not standing on the Homestead’s porch. She shivered almost violently and then hissed in pain, pressing her uninjuried hand harder against her ribs.

“I uh,” Nicole cleared her throat and blinked away the tears that formed in her eyes. “I lost my phone when…”

Her words trailed off, her jaw locking as she took in a deep breath through her nose, her eyes finding Waverly’s again. Impossibly soft yet filled with a mixture of pain, fear, guilt and Waverly just wanted to hold her, to make everything better, to rid her of all of it.

The same way she wished she could rid Wynonna of it all as well.

“They wouldn’t give me any information and I c-couldn’t stay in that hospital another night not knowing, worrying.” Nicole looked down at her feet. “So, I signed myself out against medical advice.”

Nicole said it like it was no big deal, like she hadn’t  _ died _ in a snow covered ditch days ago. Like she hadn’t  _ died _ trying to protect Wynonna.

“You idiot.”

The words are out of Waverly’s mouth before she can stop them and both Wynonna and Nicole look at her with wide, surprised eyes. Waverly is surprised too, by how angry she sounds, how upset.

She doesn’t get how Nicole can be so Goddamn nonchalant about this and it pissed her off because she nearly lost Wynonna, nearly lost Nicole.

She just got Wynonna back and Nicole just came into her life and turned it upside down for the better. The thought of losing both of them, of losing these two people who mean so much to her, who she cares deeply for is enough to steal the breath from her lungs and leave an ache in her chest.

“You died! You should be in the hospital recovering, resting, not driving nearly an hour to see Wynonna.” She drew in a deep breath, ready to yell some more.

“Uh, Waverly,” Wynonna said, placing her hand on Waverly’s arm, keeping her from saying anything else. “Maybe lay into Haught when she’s not about to fall on her face.”

Waverly’s attention snapped to Nicole, who swayed slightly where she stood, reaching out for steps railing and barely grabbing it in time before her legs gave out.

Waverly rushed forward, nearly knocking Wynonna out of the way to get to Nicole.

“I’ve got you,” she whispered, wrapping her good arm around Nicole’s waist, her hand coming to rest at Nicole’s hip and she shouldered most of Nicole’s weight. She looked up at Wynonna. “Help me get her inside.”

“Right,” Wynonna said, putting her whiskey down and moving to Nicole’s other side, careful to keep from jaring her ribs.

“M’fine, just need sleep. Get me to the car, I’ll radio in and have Nedley come get me,” Nicole mumbled, suddenly sounding exhausted as she and Wynonna got Nicole up the steps. “I don’t wanna be a burden.”

Worry shot through Waverly, unsure if they should just take her back to the hospital or not. Nicole had seemed fine moments ago, maybe in a little bit of pain but otherwise fine.

Maybe she was just good at hiding how she was feeling or maybe Waverly had been too caught up in her anger, her own thoughts to notice.

“Nicole,” Waverly sighed, waiting for Wynonna to open the front door. “Shut up.”

“Yes ma’am.” Beneath the exhaustion in Nicole’s voice, Waverly could hear her sarcasm and that alone was enough to ease some of Waverly’s worry.

She could feel Nicole’s eyes on the side of her face and when she glanced over at Nicole, she found a soft smile on the redhead’s face and just past the exhaustion in her eyes there was nothing but affection.

Waverly could feel her face heat up and her heart beat faster in her chest as they made their way through the living room to the couch.

Nicole hissed in pain as they lowered her as gently as possible onto the couch.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Waverly whispered over and over as she smoothed the hair from Nicole’s forehead and helped Nicole lay down on the shabby floral couch, her boots hanging off the edge.

“S’okay, I'm just a idiot.” She gave Waverly a pained smile.

When Nicole pulled a pistol from the pocket of her hoodie and sat it on the floor next to the couch with a soft grunt, neither Earp sister mentioned it. They just shared a look of guilt.

Waverly huffed a laugh, unable to stop herself from tucking some hair behind Nicole’s ear and trailing her fingers along her strong jawline to her cheek, where Nicole nuzzled into her palm. “Yeah, you’re an idiot.”

Wynonna cleared her throat from behind them, rocking back and forth on her heels and when Waverly looked over her shoulder at her, she could see how restless her sister was.

She was torn about who she should be taking care of at the moment.

“Are you good here, baby girl? Cause I was gonna head to Shorty’s.”

“Yeah, I got it from here,” Waverly sighed. Wynonna was already halfway out the door.

“Wynonna,” Nicole called out, stopping Wynonna in her tracks. “Be careful and if you need a place to crash, the spare key to my apartment is on top of the door frame. Just don’t let my cat out.”

Wynonna gave a mock salute as was out the door without another word to either of them.

With another sigh, Waverly turned her attention back to Nicole, fluffy the throw pillow behind Nicole’s head. “Have you eaten?”

Nicole shook her head then looked away from her. “I left before they served dinner.”

Waverly pushed down the anger she felt at Nicole not taking care of herself and stood from where she was kneeling next to Nicole.

If Nicole wouldn’t take care of herself then Waverly would.

“We don’t have much, Wynonna basically lives off whiskey and donuts but, I can make a grilled cheese or PB&J.”

“PB&J is fine,” Nicole said softly, grabbing Waverly’s wrist before she could walk off with her bandaged hand.  “Thank you, Waves.”

She looked up at her with soft brown eyes and Waverly was lost in them, watching the flecks of gold swirling in them.

Nicole had beautiful eyes, breathtaking eyes that showed exactly what she was feelings. They were what first drew Waverly in. Not her confidence, not her smooth talk or her dimpled smile but her eyes.

Her kind eyes that were like windows to her soul, to the person she was behind all her swagger, her well versed lines, her sassy comments and sarcastic quips.

Her eyes drew Waverly in and held her prisoner, making her question everything about her life and the person she really is underneath her smile and wave routine.

“Anytime, Nic. I’ll get something to change that bandage as well.”

It didn’t take Waverly long to throw together a quick PB&J sandwich, cutting it into four little squares and filling a glass with milk.

She helped Nicole sit up and left her alone to eat while she hunted down the first aid kit she kept fully stocked just in case a Revenant gets the better of Wynonna.

When she returned to the living room with the first aid kit she found buried under a pile of Wynonna’s clothes, Nicole had only eaten two of the four squares and was staring at her half drank glass of milk.

“Nic,” she called out softly, not wanting to startle her as she took a seat on the old wooden chest that was being used as a coffee table and placed her hand on Nicole’s knee. “You okay?”

Nicole looked up at her, eyes cloudy and misty with tears. “Yeah, just tired and my ribs are killing me.”

Waverly took her sling off then grasped Nicole’s injured hand in hers and started unwrapping the gauze. “Have you slept at all?”  

She didn’t look like she had. The dark circle under her eyes were more pronounced than they had been after she had been found. She had already showed signs of weakness, fatigue.

Nicole shook her head, her voice small and quiet as if she’s afraid to say it out loud. “I can’t sleep.”

Waverly looked up from cut across Nicole’s palm, red and still oozing the tiniest bit of blood. “Why not?”

She was sure she already knew the answer but sometimes talking about it with someone helped. And God, she wanted to help Nicole.

Nicole had only been hurt, had only  _ died _ because of her, because of the Earp curse, because she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person, with an Earp.

She and her family were the reason Nicole was beaten and bruised, the reason for that haunted look in her eyes, the fear.

She dabbed a cotton ball with alcohol on it along Nicole’s cut, whispering ‘I’m sorry’ over and over.

“Every time I close my eyes, I see him and his impossible glowing red eyes. Every time I close my eyes, I see him and my palm burns like there’s a hot blade slashing through it again. I can’t sleep because I’m terrified of seeing him again.”

“He’s gone, Nicole,” Waverly said, wrapping her hand with a fresh roll of gauze. “Wynonna took care of him. He can’t hurt you or anyone else ever again.”

“She killed him?” Nicole asked, voice filled with sadness. “She doesn’t deserve to live with something like that.”

Once she finished wrapping Nicole’s hand, she held it gently in both of her hands and without much thought brought it up to her lips and pressed a kiss to the middle of her palm.

“Neither do you,” Waverly whispered as Nicole cupped her cheek, thumb brushing along her cheekbone. “You should try to get some sleep.”

Waverly swallowed down the want, the need to kiss Nicole as stood, gathering the old gauze and Nicole’s uneaten sandwich.

“Don’t leave,” Nicole pleaded, her uninjured hand grasping Waverly’s wrist gently. “Please. I don’t wanna be alone. I don’t wanna see him.”

The words break Waverly’s heart and she wished she could have saved Nicole from this, from the curse and the pain and destruction it brought with it. She wished she was strong enough to push Nicole away, to keep her safe but she couldn’t. Nicole with her dimpled smile, her charm and with the way she made Waverly feel  _ seen _ had wormed her way into Waverly’s heart and nothing could change that.

“I’m not leaving,” Waverly promised, placing the stuff in her hands down on the coffee table and sitting at the other end of the couch, patting her thighs. “Lay down.”

It took a minute of Nicole shifting around on the couch before she laid her head down on Waverly’s thighs, staring up at the ceiling.

“Thank you for taking care of me, being here for me,” Nicole mumbled, her eyes sliding close as Waverly ran her fingers through her hair.

“I’ll always be here for you,” Waverly promised, leaning down and kissing Nicole’s forehead. “I’ll always be there for you.”

“I’ll always be here for you too, Waves.”

Nicole was quiet for a while as Waverly continued stroking her hair. The tension Nicole’s body held since she stepped out of her car finally leaving her. Her breathing evened out and Waverly was sure she was asleep

“I didn’t just come over to make sure Wynonna was okay,” Nicole said, words slurred, her voice thick with sleep. “Last time I saw you, you were crying and I had to make sure you were okay too. I care about you.”

Waverly wasn’t stupid and she wasn’t blind. She knew that Nicole had feelings for her, liked her. Hell anyone with eyes could see it, well maybe not Wynonna but she tended to miss a lot of things.

Even though she knew Nicole had feelings for her, that Nicole liked her just as much as she liked Nicole, that didn't change the fact that she was still scared. Didn't change the fact that Nicole still scared her.

“I care about you too, you idiot.”

It was all she would admit about her feelings. It was she was brave enough to admit though it was nothing close to what she truly felt for Nicole.

Nicole gave her a sleepy grin, eyes still closed. “Never knew being called an idiot could feel so good.”

“Nicole,” Waverly whispered, fingers trailing over Nicole’s brow down to her cheek.

“Hmmm?” Nicole hummed, nuzzling into Waverly’s touch.

Waverly’s heart squeezed in her chest and her whole body filled with warmth. Sleepy Nicole was so damn adorable and Waverly wanted to experience time and time again. She wanted more moments like these, Nicole falling asleep on her lap, her being able to take care of Nicole.

She wanted more peaceful moments with Nicole. Moments with Nicole's sleepy grin and warm brown eyes. She wanted more time with Nicole and she wished she was brazen enough to tell her.

“Go to sleep.”

“You’ll be here when I wake up?” Nicole asked and Waverly ran her fingers along Nicole's furrowed brows, smoothing them out.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Waverly promised, swallowing down the words.  _ ‘There's nowhere else I'd rather be.’ _

It doesn't take long for Nicole to finally fall asleep to Waverly telling her some story her Momma used to tell her when she was little, still stroking Nicole hair.

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Waverly whispered the words against Nicole’s hair, ignoring the protest her body makes at the awkward angle. “Not again, not because of the curse. Not because of me.”


End file.
